East Anglia ONE Background

ScottishPower Renewables is constructing the East Anglia ONE Offshore Windfarm, investing £2.5 billion in the project to stimulate the East Anglia region and support thousands of skilled jobs.

We are also leading the way with our target of spending 50% of the £2.5bn project investment in the UK over the lifetime of the windfarm. This is a significant milestone for the industry.

The area off East Anglia has excellent conditions for offshore wind, due to its shallow water depths, favourable seabed conditions, proximity to shore and high wind speeds.

Our zonal approach to developing our East Anglia projects means we are committed to long-term investment and creating lasting opportunities in the region.

Our next project, East Anglia THREE will continue to deliver on cost reduction, economic benefits and job creation.

Read on to learn more about the East Anglia ONE project background.

Background

In 2009, ScottishPower Renewables, working in a 50:50 joint venture partnership with Vattenfall Wind Power, was awarded rights to develop offshore capacity off the coast of East Anglia as part of the Crown Estate’s Round Three programme.

East Anglia ONE was the first project to be identified for development in the East Anglia Zone.

Public consultation on the project began in 2010 and continued to the submission of the application for consent in November 2012. In June 2014, following the approval of the Secretary of State for Energy, East Anglia ONE became the largest energy project in England and Wales to be consented. In February 2015, East Anglia ONE also became the first Round Three project in England and Wales to be awarded a Contract for Difference.

In February 2015, ScottishPower Renewables announced its role in leading East Anglia ONE towards construction and we have since selected Siemens as the preferred wind turbine supplier, in the largest deal of its kind in the UK wind energy sector.

The Project

East Anglia ONE consists of up to 102 Siemens wind turbines and foundations, each rated at 7 megawatts. This gives an overall generating capacity of up to 714 megawatts.

An offshore substation platform and its foundations are needed to collect the electricity from the turbines and transform it to a form suitable for transfer to shore.

Two seabed export cables, each around 73 km in length, will transfer the electricity to shore.

A landfall site with onshore transition pits is needed to connect the offshore and onshore cables.

Up to six onshore underground cables, each of around 37 km in length, will be used to transfer the electricity from landfall to an onshore converter station.

Up to five cable ducts for two future East Anglia projects will be installed to connect into Bramford Substation. This could limit the impact of future construction operations as cables for these future projects would be pulled through the pre-laid ducts.

An onshore converter station adjacent to the existing substation at Bramford, Suffolk, is also needed to connect the offshore windfarm to the National Grid.

Further reading

Interested suppliers should click here to find out how you can become involved.

Information on the benefits this project is creating also available online. Alternatively, you can contact us to find out more.